Fruit or vegetable selecting machine



March 30, 1943.

A. WENZ 2,315,100

FRUIT 0R VEGETABLE SELECTING MACHINE Filed April 23. 1940 I PatentedMar. 30, 1943 FRUIT OR VEGETABLE SELECTING MACHINE Adolfo Wenz, Malloco,Chile Application April 23, 1940, Serial No. 331,241

2 Claims.

The present invention refers to improvements in automatic selectingdevices for fruits or round like shaped vegetables. This deviceseparates according to the individual weight of the product and theoperation is done in a very simple, quick and economical way and withoutpounding the fruit. The application of this invention is not restrictedfor fruits and it is also possible to select many other produts with it,as long as they have a definite and a round like shape.

According to the present invention, each fruit is placed on a beam scaleof already known type, which counterbalance is mechanically forced toslide until the weight of the fruit lowers the scale position, gettingoff the basin. Because of the very smooth scale movement and alsobecause the receiving tables are disposed on a convenient level, nodamage'at all is done to the fruits or products selected hereby.

The selecting machine, based on the foregoing principle, has a number ofequally designed beam scales, placed over a turning table and whosecounterbalances look to the table center. The turning table fits insidea sectioned platform over which the selected productsreleased from thescale pan-are heaped. The sections can be increased if a very exactselection is not needed, and they can also be placed close togetheraccording to the selecting instructions. One of these sector likesections must be reserved for the loading of the product to be selected.

In order to obtain the progressive Sliding of the counterweights, afixed excentrical guide is placed upon the turning table and over thisguide rest the beams of the scales. In a complete turn of the table,this guide pushes the counterweights along starting from the end of eachbeam to a point nearer to the balancing axle. This excentric guide doesnot follow the complete circle and its interruption allows the fall ofthe beams and the return of the counterweights to the extreme of it,owing to their own weight. As the start of the excentric guide has asmooth slope, the fallen beams are easily lifted back to theirhorizontal position.

Only a small power is required to get this selecting device working andbesides the turning movement of the central table, only the frictionbetween the beams with the counterweights, and between the beams and theexcentric guide must be overcome. Furthermore, the very easyconstruction, the simple mounting of the scale beams and the low costprice of the materials needed for the turning table and selecting table,give a rather cheap device for the purpose already described,

On the accompanying drawing, the selecting machine has been sketcheddiagrammatically, Figure 1 shows a vertical section of its main parts.Figure 2 shows a top view of the selecting device and here the loadingsector 5 and the selecting sectors l I have been indicated. Over a fixedbase I and on the axle 2 is rotatablymounted table 3 over which all thebeam scales 4 are attached. At the left side can be seen the loadingplatform 5, the lower end of which coincides with the horizontal scalepan position. The scales are mounted on the edge of the turning tableconcentrically, that means, with their counterweights toward the tablecenter. The excentric guide 6, attached to a reinforcing plate 8 is heldover the turning table by means of the support 1. The movement of theturning table can be obtained by several power supplies, the properturning speed is also easy to reduce with pinions 9 and. 10 or with aworm gear.

The working of the selecting machine is as follows: The table 3 rotateswith a low speed, either by motor or by hand power. From the loadingplatform 5, every pan of the scale beams get one piece of fruit orsimilar products. If one complete turn of the table 3 is considered, wesee that the excentric guide 6 pushes the counterweights always nearerthe scales axles until the moment when the weight of the fruitbeinggreater than the counterweight-lowers the scale pan. Hereby, the fruitis delivered over the cor responding sector of the selecting table H.The heavier fruit must fall sooner than the smaller or lighter one.Every piece with the same weight, that means, of the same size, mustfall on the same sector.

Once the fruit gets out, the scale takes the horizontal position againuntil they arrive to the end of the excentric guide. As soon as they cannot be supported by the guide, the beam swings down and the resultingslope makes the counterweights slide back to the inside ends of it.Beginning the second turn of the table and because of the inclined startof the excentric guide, the beams of the scales are slowly lifted againto the horizontal position. After this, the operation starts again inthe same way as just described.

I claim:

1. A device for the grading of fruit and the like according to weightwhich comprises, a rotatable table, a plurality of levers radiallyarranged thereon and pivotally attached thereto so that they may berocked in a vertical plane about the point of pivot as a fulcrum, thefulcrums lying in an annular path concentric to the axis of the table, areceptacle on one end of each lever. a

counterweight slidable on the free shank of each lever, saidcounterweight being sufficiently heavy to raise the respective emptyreceptacle above the horizontal plane of the fulcrum regardless of thedistance of the counterweight from the fulcrum, means for rotating thetable, separate stationary discharge chutes arranged radially about thetable in registry with the receptacles throughout a substantial portionof their path of travel, a stationary charging. table inregistry withthe receptacles through a lesser portion of their path of travel, and astationary continuous spiral cam, the generation point of whichcoincides with the axis of the table, said cam being located in the samegeometric segment as the discharge chutes, said cam presenting asupporting edge substantially in the horizontal plane of the fulcrumsunderlying a portion of the various levers between their free I tates.

ends and. the location of the counterweights and serving to bias saidcounterweights toward their respective points of fulcrum as the table isrotated, said cam being interrupted at the zone of travel of therotatable table adjacent the charging table to allow the end of the freeshank of each lever to fall below the horizontal plane of the fulcrum sothat the Weight may slide on that portion of the lever to its positionof maximum remot'eness from the fulcrum preparatory to the charging ofthe respective receptacle with fruit.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 comprising additionally, meansconstituting a part of said continuous cam for raising said levers to ahorizontal position, said means constituting the termini of said camtoward which the table ro- ADOLFO WENZ.

